Grilled Fish Tacos with Pineapple Cabbage Slaw (30 Minutes!)

Summer weather is upon us in our part of the world and that means one thing to us: Grilling season!

These grilled fish tacos are my take on the fish tacos we’ve enjoyed while traveling to beach towns where the fish is fresh, the tortillas tender, and the salsa light and flavorful. Plus, just 10 customizable ingredients and 30 minutes required! Let’s do this.

Best Fish for Fish Tacos?

The best fish for fish tacos tends to be flaky, tender white fish, such as tilapia, snapper, grouper, cod, halibut, mahi-mahi, or black drum.

We ended up going with mahi-mahi, which is incredibly light and flaky. I also include some suggestions below for vegan alternatives.

For seasoning, I kept things super simple with a little oil, salt, and chili powder. I also tested a batch rolled in fine cornmeal, which added a delightful crunch! Certainly optional but a fun variation for more texture.

Best Slaw for Fish Tacos?

For fish tacos that are seasoned with a little spice (such as chili powder), it’s nice to have a little acidity (such as lime) and sweetness (such as pineapple) to balance out the flavors. So we mixed up some chopped pineapple, onion, cilantro, cabbage, and lime juice.

You could easily sub mango for the pineapple, or throw in a jalapeño or serrano pepper for some more heat. Or, in a pinch, just whip up a simple pico de gallo.

PINEAPPLE SLAW

3/4cupdiced fresh pineapple (use fresh, or you could grill your pineapple with your fish for more flavor)

3/4cupthinly shredded red cabbage

1/4cupfinely diced red onion

1/4cupfinely chopped cilantro

1Tbsplime juice

1healthy pinchsea salt

Instructions

If preparing optional chipotle aioli, do so at this time. Set aside.

Slice fish into medium bite-size pieces or long strips (skin removed) and add to a plate. Drizzle with avocado oil and toss to coat. Then season both sides liberally with sea salt and chili powder and dust with cornmeal (optional for added crunch). You want the fish to be well seasoned, so don't hold back! Once seasoned, set aside.

Heat a grill, or heat a grill pan or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Brush the surface with a little oil to prevent sticking.

Once the grill or grill pan is hot, add the seasoned fish and let cook for 3-4 minutes (without moving), or until grill marks are visible and the underside appears cooked (check the underside gently to avoid tearing). Then gently flip using a spatula or tongs. Handle the fish carefully as white fish can be tender.

Cook for another 1-2 minutes, or until the middle appears cooked and the underside also has grill marks. Set aside and cover to keep warm until serving.

Optional: Warm tortillas by wrapping in a damp towel or paper towel and heating in the microwave for 30 seconds, or in a 400 degree F (204 C) oven for 5 minutes or until warm.

To serve, divide fish between tortillas and top with slaw, fresh lime juice, and aioli (optional but recommended for bigger flavor!).

Best when fresh. Slaw will keep in the refrigerator up to 3-4 days. Aioli will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week. Fish can be stored in the refrigerator up to 2-3 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop until hot. Not freezer friendly.

Notes

*If you don’t want to make aioli or are nut sensitive, you can sub 3/4 cup (173 g) sour cream (dairy-free as needed) + 1 chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce + 1-2 Tbsp (15-30 ml) lime juice and stir to combine.*As far as fish goes, do your best to source a high-quality, saltwater fish that’s not farmed. *To keep this recipe vegan, you can sub the fish for seasoned grilled tofu, smoky jackfruit, or tempeh. *Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with mahi-mahi, the lesser amount of lime juice, and without optional ingredients. *Inspiration from the New York Times.

It shocked me a recipe & photo including animal flesh. No hate tho. I’m not here to judge anyone, and noone should judge what’s on Your plate. I hope it will be good for Your health!
I use Your website like a bible of amazing vegan recipes, literally cook something everyday from here for months.
Also hope we’ll still get new vegan recipes, it would be great if there would be a vegan part and the non vegan part of the website, coz a lot of people like myself might feel bad seeing animal products.

Hi Riley, thanks for the feedback. We will still continue producing plenty of plant-based recipes alongside new recipes with eggs and meat. If you’d prefer to only see the vegan recipes, you can subscribe to our vegan-only recipe email list (modify your subscription at the bottom of any email we’ve sent you). Or visit our recipe page and select “special diet” and “vegan” to display all vegan recipes.

These look divine! Does anyone have a suggestion for a pineapple substitute? I love pineapple, but sadly am not able to eat it as it now hurts my stomach. I’m curious if anyone has a good alternative that would work in this recipe.

I just wanted to shout out and say thank you for providing me with years and years of allergen-free and vegan and vegetarian friendly recipes. Your website has been my go-to as I’ve found out about allergies and eliminated various animal products from my diet.

Tacos are one of my favourite things and I can’t resist a good slaw, so I will definitely be using this recipe for my next taco night. I am especially grateful for suggestions on how to make this recipe vegan as I eliminated all animal products from my diet earlier this year.

Most of all, thank you for promoting healthy eating and not just veganism. A vegan lifestyle is not always accessible for all people, so I think it is great to provide people with recipes that offer alternatives and hopefully in the process they will discover some of your amazing plant-based recipes.

I have been for years and I will continue to tell any one who is willing to listen about your website.

Lynn, our audience is not comprised of all vegans. In fact, many readers eat a mostly plant-based diet, or are just looking for healthy recipes to feed themselves and their families. We understand if this our recipes no longer serve your preferences. Thanks for your support thus far!

I am one such reader who eats primarily a plant-based diet but occasionally enjoys fish, chicken, and eggs without excuse. I have followed this blog for awhile and never saw it as one aimed solely at vegans. Anyway, what I really want to say is that every recipe I’ve tried, vegan or non, has yielded terrific results, without fail. MB has become my go-to site for recipes. Looking forward to making these fish tacos in about an hour… Thanks for all of your hard work. Please keep it up!

I am so happy to see healthy and interesting recipes including fish:)
Really looking forward to try this dish and I would like to wish you good luck!

To all these rude vegans:
Recently I started incorporating fish in my meals too, because I can’t fight this b12 deficiency battle anymore and must admit – I have always had a craving for fish and seafood. Not that I feel much better now, but my skin got clearer and even got skinnier. Everyone’s body is different and to be healthy is my priority! You don’t have to consume meat daily or even weekly, because we do in fact consume meat way too much (not to mention how much it affects the environment), but I’d rather include fish in my meals than buy vegan alternatives that are not healthy at all.
Much love to you all ;)

Made the fish and the slaw (subbing out pineapple for mango because I had a ripe one on hand) with a Peruvian green sauce recipe from another blog. It was fantastic. The fish was so quick and easy but tasted perfectly seasoned (used fresh cod). Also, I fried the tortillas which came out really good. Texas quality fish taco!

Hi Dana,
I was disappointed to see comments being made about your recipe. I make two to three meals weekly from your website! Your recipes are free, amazing and you always respond to comments and offer feedback. We all follow different diets, based on our needs. I maintain a vegetarian diet, but when I am back in VA you better believe I am eating seafood. In the end we are all trying to make the world a better place and need to support each and not shame those who choose to eat seafood. We have bigger issues to focus on. Thank you for all of the amazing recipes, my meat eating brother now loves tofu, my sister in law no longer eats red meat, thanks to your recipes:) keep it up!!
Amy

I must say that this blog is one of the most beautiful and truly resourceful site I have EVER used. Her recipes are not only accurate. But really helped me when I was diagnosed with my long list of food allergies which include eggs, bananas, pecans, peaches, gluten and most diary. Anyone who has a gluten intolerance or food allergies also use this site for ideas and a way to be able to enjoy the meals we miss once living with these food intolerances. I personally as well am a flexible eater but my body is happier eating a plant based diet. But I must admit that I once was a Ugly Teen Vegan who was rude, judgmental, and just plain mean when it came to expressing my veganism and why it was right. I personally feel so happy that I follow a blog as amazing as this, because it follows what I believe in and try to implement in my life, which is put your body and health first. I began listening to my body and now I eat a nice balance of plant based meals and occasionally some fish or local animal protein . I am definitely am not blinded to all the horribleness that is happening in our world in the food industry. But if we can all focus on remembering that everyones body is different and needs different things then we can all live and bring a little more happiness, positivity, and peace to this small world.

First I wanna say DANG! these tacos were on point! My boyfriend does not like fish so I usually only get to eat fish tacos at restaurants. However, this year I’ve been trying to shift the meat-component of my flexitarian diet to sustainable seafood, so I’ve been looking for ways to train his palate to be more accepting of ocean critters. He is Mexican so there is always a special place in his heart for tacos. He wouldn’t mind if we ate them 5x a week! I LOVE the combo of pineapple + chipotle so when I saw this recipe I needed to give it a shot. We made it with cod on the electric grill and it turned out great! The fish-hating BF ate it with lots of extra aioli, but got second helpings in the end. :)

Second, THANK YOU for years of quality, delicious, and plant-based content. I stumbled upon your site years ago when a google search turned up your 5 ingredient granola bars (still a staple in our house). This was back in my college days when I was just starting to take the first steps from serious carnivore, to a more plant-based diet. I grew up in a family that cooked meat for dinner every night, made bacon for breakfast in the morning, and sent us off to school with turkey sandwiches for lunch. I didn’t know there could be a world of cooking outside of meat, eggs, and dairy. Being a dirt-poor college student demanded change, but for this naive cook “going vegetarian” meant many nights of pasta with jarred marinara sauce. Then I moved into a house with a variety of vegetarian, flexitarian, and vegan friends. We cooked communal dinners so when it was my turn at the chopping block I needed recipe inspiration FAST. Your website was one of the invaluable few that taught me just how easy and delicious plant-based recipes can be.

It’s frustrating to see people being so angry and close-minded about you adding a few meat recipes to your site, when the reality is you don’t owe anything to ANYONE. You’ve created so much amazing content that you could have sequestered away from the world. Instead you decided to share it and help people like me learn that there are better (more health and environmentally conscious) ways to live and eat! I’m sure I’m not the only person whose relationship with food you’ve help change for the better. So thank you for everything so far, and keep on rockin’ girl!

Thank you for all your hard work and creativity over the years! I started following your blog several years ago, and I know that you and your husband have always said that you don’t subscribe to any one particular diet or way of eating. It was clear to me that meant you weren’t necessarily vegan. I was shocked and dismayed by the hurtful and rude comments that you recently have had for your new recipes. I just want to say thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes. I bought your cookbook, and it’s wonderful. I will continue to use your website and recipes. Again thank you for all the wonderful recipes you have created.

Dana, I found your website several years ago. My daughter and Grandson are vegans. I have loved all of the recipes I’ve tried. I was shocked and dismayed by many of the hurtful comments about your recent recipes. I remember when I first found your website, you had said that both you and your husband don’t subscribe to any one type of eating. You have always been honest and straightforward about not being vegan. I bought your cookbook which is great. I will continue using your website and look forward to many, many more wonderful recipes. Thank you for all the hard work both you and your husband have done over the years. You are wonderful! My grandson recently began eating fish, so I will definitely try this recipe for him.

Very tasty tacos. I used thawed frozen cod fillets and fried in a cast iron pan. They stuck a bit but that didn’t affect the flavour. I followed the recipe except I omitted the red onion (hubby doesn’t care for it). The aioli was good and spicy. Loved it. I added too much salt to my slaw but that was my fault. I was hoping for a little leftover for a snack for the next day, but we polished it up just the 2 of us. Thanks for the recipe. A keeper.

Minimalist baker was my little vegetarian place to safely come and pick recipes for my meals and parties. I would rave about minimalist baker to my guests and coworkers. Unfortunately, minimalist baker is going backwards and incorporating meat when the rest of the world is progressing towards non meat nutrition. Sad to see this happening.

The rest of the world? Have you lived anywhere outside of your home country? I find this statement very naive, considering that vegetarians/vegans around the world are a small minority. I hope this one day will change, but at the same time it will always be rude to judge those that don’t follow your particular ethos, just because you disagree with them. You convert more vegans with agave sweetener not vinegar!

Dom,
To answer your question about my exposure to other countries… I hold citizenship in two countries, lived in several countries, an avid traveler plus I’m a published travel author.
Vegan/vegetarianism is the fastest growing segment of the food industry. Had you invested in some of the market’s biggest faux meat produces in the past year you would of seen a return in excess of 250%. So yes, non meat diets are the future and growing, minimalist baker is taking a step into the archaic past by abandoning this reality. I’m assuming this is being done purely for financial reasons.

It’s because, unfortunately, vegan diets do not provide what is needed for optimal health for most people. There are so many nutrients which, in their plant forms, are slowly being found to be insufficient. This is why so many vegans either cheat on their diets or revert back to eating some animal products after developing health issues over several years. If you are eating dairy and eggs as a vegetarian, you have a better chance of success but only if these are high quality (pastured) products.

I never commented any of your recipe but following the recent backlash against you, I felt the need to do so. You have done an awesome job in promoting plant-based eating in the last years, by giving us all a free access to your awesome recipes. I think that a lot of those critizing you are forgetting this. They also seem to forget that you are not accountable to them, in any way. I think it’s quite sad to react like this, even though I understand the bewilderment regarding the shift on your blog.

Please keep giving us amazing ideas for vegan dinners ! : D also, it would be nice to see a recipe of fishy vegan crusty tofu or so, to replace the fish in such recipe (I could not find any on your blog, but maybe there is already one?).

These are so good! We used fresh cod and they turned out great. We loved the simplicity of them.

We’ve been using the roasted cauliflower from your cauliflower tacos recipe as a fish alternative for our tacos. It’s awesome with mango salsa, cabbage slaw, and a chipotle aioli. I bet it would be a good alternative here! Thank you for the tasty recipes!

I call myself a ‘flexiterian’ and love the idea of having a mix of vegan, vegetarian, and the occasional extra like this fish taco recipe. I haven’t tried it but have everything ready to cool it tomorrow. I can already taste the goodness just from the list of ingredients. Thank you!

I have tried and shared your recipes/website with 100s of people and they have all appreciated what they have found. There are very few others as good as you – in fact, I haven’t found any who match your standard of variety, quality or professionalism so please keep it coming.

Please do not let some of the comments I have read on this page discourage you. It’s sad people are so small minded – I say to them – ‘you’re the losers… you’re cutting your nose to spite your face. Too bad. You’re going to miss some of the best contributions I’ve come across on the web and I’ve spent a lot of time looking for an ethical, honest, reliable source for recipes that are consistently good and easy to prepare. This is it. If you do return please do have the courtesy to let Dana know, with an apology for your selfishness and rudeness. She deserves it. She does this for very little reward from us, the readers.’

Same! This always was my go-to blog for vegan recipes and I talked to fellow vegans who felt the same. This feels so wrong now. I was extremely confused and disappointed to see this.
Was there a post where you stated your choice Dana?

I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure this has never actually been described as a vegan blog. The recipes reflect Dana’s diet at the time. When I first started reading it she actually wasn’t vegan and a some of the recipes used eggs or dairy. She made an announcement about two months ago that she would soon start incorporating non vegan recipes. At the end of the day this is her blog and she can publish whatever she wants.

Made these tonight as a surprise for my family… the coleslaw was amazing wow! Unfortunately for me I used a pan the obviously wasn;t ver suitable and my cornmeal stuck to it like glue despite using oil and my fish was too flakey :( do you think baking the fish would work? Other than my disastrous attempt these were great x

I’ve followed your blog for about 4 years. I’m a lifelong vegetarian and sometimes vegan. Your timing is impeccable (for me at least), as after doing a lot of medical research, I am very interested in including fish in my diet and am studying this recipe. I understood completely from day 1 that you were personally not vegan and I personally feel you were very open about this. Regardless, you put out the most consistently delicious and healthy recipes around…and they’re free, so you can’t argue with that. Over the years, I have followed fewer and fewer blogs after failed recipes. Your recipes are ALWAYS delicious and I thank you! I pretty much just make your recipes at this point. I respect your journey and expertise, and the professional way you are handling all the comments. Thank you!

Thanks for the tofu option! That slaw sounds great! I wonder if I could make the tofu on an outdoor grill? I’ve never tried it before, I wonder if it would stick. This looks like such a fresh and healthy recipe. (btw, I posted earlier about having trouble with the feed. I deleted it and re added it, and everything is working again for me )

This looks amazing! And thank you SO much for the grill pan recommendation. I’ve been trying to decide whether or not to get an outdoor grill–we don’t have much space, but it makes summer cooking easier–but this looks like a great solution. I love you and love all you do!

Hi Dana! I’ve never commented before but found your blog after my daughter was diagnosed with milk and egg allergies and have been hooked for years. Her allergies led us to a mostly vegan diet but we, apparently like you, do eat thoughtfully sourced animal products on occasion. I will enjoy seeing a wider variety of recipes we will be able to enjoy, and I appreciate so much your talent and the hard work you must put into this business from which we all benefit so much! Thank you for all you do (and by the way, your vegan gluten free biscuits and your tahini kale salad are amazing!!!). You have been so gracious in response to the varying reactions to your inclusion of non-vegan recipes; I am sure you are as wonderful a person in real life as you appear on the blogosphere <3 God bless you!

Dana, my granddaughter and I just adore you! We’re going out today to get everything to make these scrumptious looking taco’s. We seen this mouthwatering recipe and loved it as we do all your recipes. Thank you for being so beautiful and creative!

Hi Dana, I have been subscribing to your blog using Feedly and it says the blog url is unreachable (as an rss feed). Is there a url I can use for an rss reader? I’d rather use that than sign up for emails (it’s easier for me). I missed some recipes! :-)
Thanks!

Thanks so much for including the vegan alternatives, Dana! I know it’s probably more work for you, but it’s much appreciated. Headed to the kitchen right now to make the smoky jackfruit filling. Pineapple slaw? Yum! Keep on keeping on!

I appreciate all you do, and as a vegan I don’t feel unwelcome that you include non-vegan recipes. I can ignore them, just like I ignore the animal recipes in other cookbooks and on other sites. And I do appreciate how far you go to make great vegan recipes available, and appreciate your accommodating us in your email list and in your recipe index.

I do find it easier to understand the inclusion of the occasional egg or some cheese than to actually include flesh. But again, it is your blog to post what you wish, and I enormously appreciate all the fantastic vegan recipes you post.

But still, while I don’t have any right to complain, I do feel a certain sadness in seeing this.

I love your account but I’m sad to see fish featured here. I follow your account for plant-based goodness so I’m kind of confused by this. I know you’ve occasionally used an egg before, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen meat on here before so I’m kind of confused by this. I know you say “all eaters welcome” but actually this isn’t vegan friendly or welcoming for vegans. :( x

Vix, thanks for the feedback. We will be continuing to share plant-based recipes, as well as recipes like this one that contain thoughtfully-sourced meat and eggs. We know we won’t please all eaters all the time, but want everyone to feel welcome here (even if every recipe doesn’t suit your needs).

We included a few options to keep this recipe vegan in the notes, and will continue doing so whenever possible moving forward.

If you’d prefer not to see meat or egg recipes, you can adjust your email preferences at the bottom of any email we’ve sent you recently. Or, you can search our vegan-only recipes in our new recipe index here.

I agree with you Vix as vegan. So sad to see this. I can tolerate eggs ora cheese, but not flesh. I’m sorry, but I’m going to unuscribe from your blog and Youtube channel. The reason is only ethical, even if I can choose what to see, I can’t be subscribed in a blog that share meat recipes. Vegan recipes are for everyone, not the opposite. Thanks for all your vegan recipes. All the best.

These look fantastic – I’m excited to try them! One question, though: cilantro tastes like soap to me. I know that in some recipes, I can replace it with basil or parsley (though of course it won’t be the same), and sometimes it can be left out, or sometimes I just can’t make the recipe at all. In this case, is there a good replacement for the cilantro?